Time is Running Out
by CrazyLaviFangirl
Summary: She was the unwilling leader, fighting to protect her loved ones in the walker-infested world. Will her outspoken, confident nature be enough to save her group, or will they go down in flames like the rest of the world? Turning her pain and fear to strength, she's more than willing to take on the world. [Reader/OC x Daryl Dixon]


The hot Georgia air was thick with the smell of the dead.

I scrunch my nose as I pull back the machete from what was once a head, cringing as it falls apart in front of me. No matter how many times I'd eliminated walkers, I still couldn't get used to the smell of hot, rotting skin that could fall off the bone with one swoop of a knife. I pinch my nose as I look around, seeing no other obvious threats to the small ranch house that we had taken residence in.

As I approach I note that Leslie had taken her post on the roof of the house, a pair of binoculars around her neck as her gun rested by her side. Two other close friends of mine, that I had been with in Georgia at the time, were off manually washing clothes in the distance. We each had a different job assigned to us, based on our own strengths.

I was pinpointed as leader as soon as I had rounded the group up, a responsibility I wish hadn't landed on me. I had never had trouble talking, not even leading, but in a situation as dire as this one, one wrong move could leave the rest of us dead. It was a lot to think about, a lot to consider, and enough to keep me up at night wondering how I'd be able to live with myself if one of my friends ever died. I don't think I'd want to live if a mistake I made cost them their life.

"Welcome back sweetheart." Maude greeted me at the door with a warm smile, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I hope there ain't anythin' for us to be worryin' about out there."

"Not a thing." I smiled, squeezing her hand. "We'll keep you and your husband safe, I promise. It's the least we can do for you allowing us to stay here with you." We started to walk towards the kitchen, where her husband was sitting along with my closet friend, Amber, who was preparing dinner for the night. She spots me as I walk in, signaling that she wants to talk to me. I excuse myself from my small talk with Maude, walking to the hallway with Amber.

"Joey just went out to town to scavenge for some food."

"He went alone? I guess I'm not surprised, seeing as he doesn't listen to me anyway."

"You're not mad he went without your permission?" She nervously twirled a dark strand of her hair.

"I told you before, I'm don't want to be the leader of this little group here. You can all do what you please, as long as it doesn't endanger anyone else. Not my problem he's an idiot with a death wish."

"Oh, come on, you know he's looking out for us. I mean, he probably only went to make sure we don't go hungry tonight. The meat goes quick during the week; we gotta get it when we have the chance."

"I get where you're coming from." I turn away from her, annoyed. "But one day I hope you'll stop making excuses for his selfish behavior." She tries to protest but I want no part in it, as I had managed to avoid the topic Joey's behavior and presence in general since the apocalypse had started.

There was bad blood between that us that had continued to flow through the beginning of this disaster, and the animosity hadn't dissipated. He had wanted to be the leader, the one to keep us all safe, but he had never been responsible for a single thing in his life. All he had was a big mouth and a fiery temper, not to mention a knack for saying the wrong things at the wrong times. He refused to listen to a word of my advice to the group, doing what he wanted to whenever he wanted to, wasting ammo and food as he indulged without thinking of us.

He was bad for the group, but I didn't have the heart to throw him out.

I joined Leslie, my so-called second-in-command, as she had looked bored out of her mind. Seeing me approach she smirked, rising to greet me. Leslie was another close friend of mine that I had known for awhile, the two of us had been in Atlanta when all this had first started; she had just come back from visiting her family in Mexico to spend some time with me. I hadn't seen her in a long time, and if there was anyone I was happy to be stuck in an apocalypse with, it was her.

We sat on the edge of the roof, feet dangling off the sides and guns at the ready as we observed the horizon. The tall metal gates that we had built, with the help of a few farmhands that had since moved on to a, hopefully, better area, protected the rear of the house. We hadn't had enough materials to build completely around the small ranch house, but we had figured we could easily handle a few walkers that approached from the front, as long as we kept watch constantly.

"Joey's wasting fuel again." She commented. "We're gonna have to go town and get some more, hopefully we'll have enough to make it. Also, we're running low on ammo and, uh, we have two broken guns."

"Let me guess, Joey?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded her head, grimacing. "Stupid asshole is gonna get us all killed."

"I've been saying that since day one." I let out a groan and ran my fingers through my hair to calm the headache that was beginning to form. "Maybe we should start keeping the weapons locked up so no one can get them without asking you for permission."

"Maybe." Leslie shrugged her shoulders. "I'll do whatever you want me to do."

"Throw yourself off this roof right now." She punches my shoulder playfully, and we both share a laugh, something we hadn't done for a long time.

The silence is comforting as we watch the sun begin to set, the pinkish hues in the sky causing a peaceful atmosphere to settle over the land. I close my eyes, taking in the fresh air and enjoying its scent, preferring this to the smell of death that had become such a frequent assailant of my senses. I lay back on the roof, putting my hands behind my head as I think about taking a power nap.

It was near impossible for me to sleep peacefully.

"Maybe if you laid out here during the day instead of being on patrol at night most of the time, you'd actually get a tan."

"Shut it." I grumble. "We can't all be tan as you, man, cut me a break."

I hear the sound of the hatch to the roof being unlatched, opening my eyes as I hear footsteps approach. I smile as I meet the eyes of an annoyed blonde girl, whose face seems to be turned into a pout.

"Joey's back. Wants to talk to you about how much better of a leader he'd be that you or something, I don't know. I stopped listening."

"Only thing to do when you're talking to him." I sat up, stretching my arms and legs before heading back down to deal with Joey. I only had a few more hours before I started my patrol around the farm, making sure there were no holes in the fence outback and then taking watch until the sun rose. "Have fun, Leslie, I'll try and save you a slice of meat if he doesn't shove it down his throat first."

"Or stuff it down his pants to show he's real man and he 'don't have to listen to no women'."

I follow Rachel back down the hatch, asking her about how her days been going and if there was anything I could do for her. Of all of us, she had been doing the worst. The first few days she had been stuck in the bathroom, refusing to leave and vomiting at the mere mention of the walking dead. She still couldn't manage to kill one without trouble; I think she still viewed them as living, breathing things despite their obvious deformities and decaying nature. She wasn't as numb to killing as the rest of us were, not yet.

"Welcome back, rebel without a cause, what have you brought back from the hunt today?" 

Joey turns to face me, a scowl marring his features as he looked me up and down.

"You look like a shit."

"Had to kill a walker out front and drag him as far away as possible, isn't exactly a hands-off job like say, breaking guns and not telling anybody that they're broken." I crossed my arms. "Or abandoning your job and your watch to go out on a little joyride that wasn't necessary."

"I knew you were gonna complain-"

"If you hate me complaining so much, why do you do things you know will fucking piss me off?!" I exclaim, his stupidity really astounded me sometimes. "You live to piss me off, and I'm sick of it. Get your shit together, Joey, because I might not want to kick you out of this group right now, but if your reckless bullshit hurts one of the other girls-"

"Don't pull your macho bullshit; you don't intimidate me like you do everyone else."

"Let me remind you that everyone around here voted for **me** to lead, not **you**. If you don't like it, there's the door, don't let it hit your ass on the way out."

"Fuck off. What does it matter in the end, we're all gonna die either way, just a matter of time."

I got a bad feeling deep in my heart after that, a nagging feeling that weighed down on my chest and refused to allow me to breathe freely. I took a walk around the fence, lobbing off walkers left and right but found that the worry remained. I was unable to pinpoint what had caused it, but there was a thought repeating over and over again in my head.

Time was running out.


End file.
